Penny Drops.
A/N: Hi there! I've been super busy with From the Frontlines and Back, but here's a little AU Kane Chronicles fic for you guys! Please enjoy! One more fic to fifty, and I'm excited! If you have any suggestions on what my big 50 fic should be, PM ME!
The warmth of the room washed over Sadie as Zia entered the room behind her, her black hair braided in two pigtails. It may not have been a very mature hairstyle, but it suited Zia very well. Her own hair was matted, tangled and dirty, but she didn't care. Not that she would care, Zia never judged her for her hair, or on anything for that matter. Sadie sat herself on Zia's thick comforter, while Zia stared at her with slanted cat eyes.
The two girls had been friends for years, though they were two years apart in age. At first, Sadie had loathed Zia for her haughty attitude and proud looks; Zia despised Sadie for her rebellious attitude. In the end, they made amends, after a particularly nasty conversation between the two. Only one thing kept them from each other's throat, and that was Sadie's step brother, Carter Kane. Zia had seen him as a simple boy, nothing special. Sadie insisted Zia had a crush on him, though she didn't care. Carter, however, was always tongue tied around Zia and avoided looking her directly in the eye. They've been friends for years, and still Carter hadn't gathered the courage to ask Zia out. The Senior Prom was coming quickly, and Zia was secretly hoping Carter would ask her, for her feelings for him had grown.
"Sadie, why can't you act like a normal human being?" Zia demanded, putting her hands on her waist, "This is the fifth time you've gotten suspended!"
"Does it matter?" she asks in a careless tone, "I mean, if I wanted a lecture I'd tell my dad. Who is, may I remind you, in Egypt. And Mom doesn't really care; she agrees that kid deserved a beating."
"That kid, Sadie, was Drew Tanaka!" Zia exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. She sat down in the chair, exasperated. She held her head in her hands, her olive fingers clawing themselves through her dark hair that Sadie had envied. Sadie never really enjoyed her hair, and always droned to Zia about her longing for dark hair. However, all she could do was dye the streaks in a rainbow of colors, varying in hue and length. Today, it was a bright magenta, contrasting highly with her leather boots and jacket she loved. Zia looked up; her cat eyes lined with liner, and said "You can't keep doing this, Sadie."
"Not like anyone will care if I do." She commented, and in the lamp light, she saw a tiny black journal, bound with an intricate knot. A slow smirk crawled onto Sadie's face as she reached for it, but Zia's hand beat her to it, and she looked up to see Zia holding the journal close to her chest, a look of worry upon her face.
"Don't touch that!" Zia said, "It's private!"
"Oh, please!" Sadie laughed, her smirk elongating upon her face. She stood and reached for it again, but Zia managed to swipe it out of the way, before she could grab it. Zia's back against the closet wall and Sadie continued.
"What's so important it has to be hidden in a journal? You and I tell each other everything!"
Zia bit her lip, wondering if she could really trust Sadie with the information she held close to heart, literally. She understood Carter had a crush on her, but after all her rebuffs, she was unsure if he would still feel the same.
"Nothing! Some things have to stay quiet, alright?"
"Oh, my, my, my!" Sadie said, clasping her hands together, making her eyes wide. "Is about my dear brother, Carter? The way he moves? The way his stride matches his stuttering words?"
"Of course not!" Zia protested, a pink color arising in her cheeks, "It's about other stuff!"
"Don't deny it Zia!" Sadie laughed, her wide blue eyes full of amusement, "You like Car-"
"Zia?"
The sound of Carter's voice perturbed the argument, and Zia was relieved to see him enter the room, his eyes wide with curiosity. She stashed the diary away, stuffing it under the bed. "Hey, Carter."
"Did Walt let you in?" Sadie asked in a bored tone, "I swear, he'll let in a burglar one day."
"No, Zia's mom did." Carter said his tone simple and quiet. He sat himself on the desk beside her bed, "You know Miss Rashid likes me."
"Is that because you keep courting her daughter?" Sadie teased, and landed herself on Zia's bed again. "Or the fact Walt helped her with the dishes in?"
"Probably both."
The trio burst into laughter, as Sadie wiped some tears from her eyes after the laughter was over. Zia crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing like a cat's. She hated being ridiculed, and it was Sadie who mostly paid for her words in the end, Zia couldn't bear to inflict pain upon an already insecure boy like Carter. The four of them, Zia; Sadie; Carter and Walt had been friends for years, and Ms. Rashid, Zia's mother, always let them in. She favored Walt particularly, and Carter, mostly because they were kinder then the girls and had a purer mouth then other seventeen year old boys.
"I wish Walt wasn't such a wimp." Zia and Carter's head turned in shock, to see Sadie having recollected the small black journal. Zia widened her eyes, before laughing a good minute. It always puzzled her how Sadie could steal everything as fast as a panther could.
"I mean, Zia, we both have this problem, huh?" Sadie drawled on, "My brother isn't the handsomest boy on the block."
"What?" Carter asked, his eyes widening in shock. He looked between Zia and Sadie, a look of surprise on his face. "Sadie, you know me and Zia aren't together-"
"I'd love to, but, well." Zia stuttered, trying to come up with the right words. She didn't want to lead him on, nor did she want to let him go. So, logically, all she could do was pretend she had never thought about it. "I mean, well-"
"You see-"Carter muttered, trying to be heard.
"We're not-"
"Together."
The two of them looked at each other, hurt in both of their eyes, but understanding the truth: They couldn't let their own feelings be known. They had to hide it, for fear of endless teasing and no acceptance. Zia's mother did love Carter, but Zia wasn't so sure some days.
"I'd love to, he's my favorite friend." Zia said, walking over and placing her arm around Carter's shoulder, "But, you know…he's a friend!"
"Yeah!" Carter agreed as well, though she felt his shoulder tense up as she placed her lace covered arm around his shoulders. "We're not, together…right?"
"Course!"
Sadie looked at both of them for one crazed moment, before bursting into laughter. She doubled over, cackling like a witch. "Carter-when-have-you-ever-paid-attention-to-anoth er-girl?" She gasped as she laughed, her blue eyes filling with tears.
"Well…" Carter said in a worried tone, trying to shrug Zia's arm off his shoulder, but Zia had remained still.
"Exactly!" Sadie finally said clearly, her tone loud and crisp. She looked between the two, clearly frustrated by their constant friend zoning; they just needed a little push. "You guys, you have liked each other for years, and don't deny it! I am so bored of seeing you two push each other away, and the Senior Prom is tomorrow, so just make out and let it out already before the end of the damn world!"
There was awkward silence as Zia and Carter both processed these words that Sadie said, before they turned to each other slowly, and their lips crashed into each other's, their arms wrapped around each other. Sadie sighed, as the two made out for a solid two minutes, and she simply left the room, finally happy they were finally letting it out. The penny had finally dropped.